Discovery, YipTV Raise MVPD/OVD Questions
Redefining the term multichannel video programming distributor "would constitute a substantive change in law" that alters the rights and obligations of many regulated businesses, Discovery Communications said in an FCC filing in docket 14-261. Including some types of online video…
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distributors as MVPDs is changing the law, since OVDs haven't always been considered MVPDs, and thus can't retroactively cover previous actions before the change is made, Discovery said. If the FCC makes such a definition change, new OVDs need to have the choice to be MVPDs or to be able to waive -- at least temporarily -- the obligations that come with that status, YipTV said in a filing also posted Tuesday. "Unless classification is optional, or the Commission waives MVPD obligations for emerging or smaller OVDs such as YipTV, the burdens of such a classification would far outweigh any potential benefits," said the company, which went live May 7. The burdens include requirements on program carriage, retransmission consent, program captioning, video description, access to emergency information, accessibility of user interfaces and guides, and signal leakage, all of which add up to "substantial costs," it said. If the FCC doesn't let OVDs elect to be MVPDs, it could waive MVPD obligations "for certain categories of companies," YipTV said.